Lunch & Learn and TBElle: Old World, New World, Promised Land (Hybrid)

A combined Lunch & Learn and TBElle film program with discussion. Watch a different film each week (either in class or at home) and join Ken Shulman, President of Boston Jewish Film, for very informative and thought provoking discussions.

April 30, The Old World | Everything Is Illuminated (2005), written and directed by Liev Schreiber and based on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer

A young American Jew embarks on a family roots trip to Ukraine, searching for the woman who saved his grandfather during the Holocaust. Traveling with his young guide Alex—and Alex’s surly, seemingly antisemitic grandfather–he wades through various levels of absurdity, comedy, and grief to discover a deeply buried family secret.

May 7, The New World | The Chosen (1981), directed by Jeremy Kagan, based on the novel by Chaim Potok

Set in Brooklyn during the latter part of World War II, The Chosen traces the distinct but intertwining paths of two young Jewish Americans, the first the son of a Chassidic Rabbi, the second the son of a college professor and Zionist activist. Their unlikely but powerful friendship tests their convictions as they chart their separate destinies in postwar America.

May 14, The Promised Land | A Tale of Love and Darkness (2015), written and directed by Natalie Portman, based on the book by Amos Oz

A grainy and heartfelt portrait of the birth of the state of Israel, seen through the eyes of writer Amos Oz, whose Ashkenazi parents immigrated from Eastern Europe to Jerusalem during the British Mandate of Palestine. Portman’s faithful adaptation follows the family as it navigates hope, grief, and conflict while the new Jewish state takes shape.

This course follows a sequential structure, but anyone is welcome to join at any point, or to drop in to any class. If you have questions regarding participation, please contact the Lynn Burke Harrell.

Registration: This event is available online and in person. Please click on the appropriate bar above to register.

This program is sponsored by TBE’s Lunch & Learn and TBElle.